Cherie accused of assault after playful cuff

'You're lucky I've got a good sense of humour' ... Mrs Blair shares the joke and signally fails to assault him

When Cherie Blair gently tapped a young prankster on the back, the law descended on her like a ton of bricks.

No fewer than six police officers were sent to investigate the incident at a sporting event. And by the time they discovered that nothing untoward had happened, at least £2,000 of taxpayers' money had been wasted on the inquiry.

Comment: Cherie Booth QC... hoisted by her own legal petard

It all began when 17-year-old grammar school pupil Miles Gandolfi put his arm around the Prime Minister's wife while a friend took pictures, and placed his fingers behind her head to imitate a pair of rabbit's ears.

She spotted the move and ticked him off, aiming a playful cuff at him with her right hand. It was this which prompted a complaint of 'assault' by one of the event organisers to officials from the Child Protection in Sport Unit.

The CPSU is a government quango - set up by New Labour - to prevent children from being abused at sporting occasions. Its officials referred the matter to Strathclyde Police.

The next day, a Sunday, its six-strong team was dispatched. However, only two were required to take a statement from Miles, who assured them that he had not been assaulted and the matter was dropped.

Accused of over-reaction, police sources pointed out that Mrs Blair and her fellow human rights lawyers have created the conditions in which this kind of pointless case thrives.

The saga began on September 9 when Mrs Blair attended the UK Schools Games at Scotstoun Leisure Centre in Glasgow. Miles, from Chelsfield, near Orpington, Kent, is a talented junior fencer and was competing at the games.

Mrs Blair was on her way out of the leisure centre when he asked if he could be photographed with her and played his 'rabbit ears' joke.

He said yesterday: "Cherie just reacted to what I did in a normal way - she was having a good laugh. She took it good-humouredly, like everyone else would.

"I suppose the police had to investigate because they were called about it but the people who reported it to them, whoever they are, must have got confused as to what happened.

"At first I just thought I'd got into trouble for staging the photo with Mrs Blair - it didn't cross my mind that anything that happened would be passed on to the police.

"I've no idea why I did it, it was just a bit of fun. She just tapped me and said, 'You're lucky I have such a good sense of humour'. I didn't think there would be any trouble about it."

Statements were also taken from witnesses to the incident but Downing Street confirmed later that no action was expected against Mrs Blair, who is also a crown court judge.

Miles's mother Catherine, 54, a primary school librarian, said the police reaction was 'bizarre', adding: "It was out of all proportion to what happened."

Journalist Lauren Booth, half-sister of Cherie, said: "This is a case of Cherie being touchy-feely and somebody in the audience going, 'Oh, we can make something of this'."

The chambers which Mrs Blair cofounded, Matrix, specialises in cases based on the Human Rights Act.

She has said in the past: "I am very concerned about this semi-political idea that the compensation culture and culture of human rights is a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it is very important."

Among other high-profile cases, she has defended the supposed 'breach' of human rights of a boy suspended from school for alleged arson and, most famously, the Muslim schoolgirl Shebina Begum who was banned by her headmistress from wearing a head-to-toe jilbab to school.

Following the Miles Gandolfi incident, one of the pioneers of child protection in sport admitted yesterday that efforts to protect youngsters had gone too far.

Celia Brackenridge, a former international athlete turned academic, told the Times: "Having been one of the major advocates for a long, long time, we have got to the point where I am saying, 'Whoah, slow down a bit' because it has got out of hand in some areas."

She fears that the culture of overprotection could harm Britain's Olympic chances, with growing accusations of attacking or molesting children discouraging volunteers from helping in youth sports.

Professor Brackenridge's study of sexual exploitation of young athletes led to the creation in 2001 of the Child Protection in Sport Unit, which is run by the NSPCC and Sports Councils.